حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَامِرٍ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ بَرَّادٍ الْأَشْعَرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو أُسَامَةَ، عَنْ مُفَضَّلٍ، عَنْ مُغِيرَةَ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الشَّعْبِيَّ يَقُولُ: حَدَّثَنِي الْحَارِثُ الْأَعْوَرُ، وَهُوَ يَشْهَدُ أَنَّهُ أَحَدُ الْكَاذِبِينَ.
Translation: Through Abū ʿĀmir ʿAbd Allāh b. Barrād, Abū Usāmah, Mufaḍḍal and Mughīrah, the report states that Mughīrah heard al-Shaʿbī say: Al-Ḥārith narrated to me, while al-Shaʿbī testified that he was among the liars.
The subject of «وَهُوَ يَشْهَدُ» is al-Shaʿbī; it is not al-Ḥārith confessing against himself. As al-Nawawī explains, Mughīrah is the transmitter who relates this qualifying description, whereas al-Shaʿbī is the person testifying. “Wa-kāna kadhdhāban” and “aḥad al-kādhibīn” convey related criticism attributed to the same critic.
The upper chains differ but converge on Mughīrah and then al-Shaʿbī. This helps assess the transmission of al-Shaʿbī’s statement; it does not establish two independent eyewitness critics.